Caragana
Caragana arborescens
pea-tree, peashrub
Siberian caragana, Siberian pea shrub, Siberian pea tree, Siberian pea tree or shrub
erect or decumbent, glabrous or pubescent.
erect, branched from near base, branchlets pubescent;
bark gray-brown.
alternate, sometimes clustered on spurs, even-pinnate, subpinnate, or appearing palmate [digitate];
stipules present, membranous when young, some with thickened midribs becoming bristle- or spinelike, or spinescent, 1.5–9 mm;
rachis, when present, usually persistent;
petiolate;
leaflets 2–12[–20], opposite, blade margins entire, surfaces villous, glabrate, or glabrous.
even-pinnate;
stipules 5–9 mm, spine-tipped or not;
petiole 1–10 cm;
rachis present, deciduous, 3–9 cm, spinescent;
leaflets 6–12(or 14), blades elliptic or obovate to broadly oblong, 1–4 × 0.5–1.5 cm, base rounded to cuneate, apex rounded or truncate, mucronate, surfaces villous or glabrescent.
1–4(or 5)-flowered, axillary, fasciculate or solitary, each peduncle-pedicel 1-flowered;
bracts present, membranous, at base of peduncle, bracteoles present or absent, linear, minute, at base of peduncle and pedicel.
with (1 or)2–4(or 5) flowers per fascicle;
peduncle-pedicel 1–6 cm, usually pubescent (often glabrous in fruit).
papilionaceous;
calyx persistent, tubular or campanulate, subgibbous, lobes 5, distinct, subequal, much shorter than tube, adaxial 2 usually smaller;
corolla yellow or orange-yellow [rarely white or pink];
stamens 10, diadelphous;
anthers uniform, dorsifixed;
style straight or slightly curved.
calyx broadly campanulate, 4.5–8 mm, teeth broadly triangular, 1–1.5 mm, sometimes appearing unlobed, pubescent or glabrescent, orifice villous;
corolla yellow, 1.5–2.3 cm.
legumes, sessile, flattened, oblong or linear, dehiscent, non-septate, valves twisting in dehiscence, glabrous.
reddish brown to brown, linear to oblong, 2.5–6 × 0.4–0.7 cm.
[2 or]3–8, monochrome or mottled and streaked, oblong, ovoid, 4-angled, or globose [ellipsoid, subglobose, or reniform], smooth.
3–8, grayish yellow to dark or reddish brown, oblong or ovoid to 4-angled, 4–6 mm.
= 8.
= 16.
Caragana
Caragana arborescens
Species 70–80 (3 in the flora).
The number and persistence of spines on Caragana species is variable. The leaf rachises may persist after the leaflets fall, becoming woody and spinescent, and may last a few years. The stipules also may become spinescent and persist; plants under cultivation seem to produce relatively few or no spines, which may be relatively short or reduced to a bristle (W. J. Bean 1970–1988, vol. 1).
Some species of Caragana are cold- and drought-resistant. They are cultivated extensively in Canada and the northern United States as ornamentals, for hedges, windbreaks, shelterbelts, and erosion control, and may persist. In addition to the three species treated here, some additional species of Caragana are cultivated in North America, including C. microphylla Lamarck, C. pygmaea de Candolle, C. sinica (Buc’hoz) Rehder, and C. spinosa de Candolle. Some of these are found only in arboreta or in specialty collections; others are more common. The three species treated here are the only taxa known to have become naturalized in the flora area.
Caragana needs worldwide revision because species boundaries are uncertain in some taxa; names associated with some plants growing in cultivation are doubtful.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Caragana arborescens is the most commonly cultivated Caragana in North America. It is cultivated in almost every Canadian province and in the United States from Maine to Oregon, from Alaska to California, and from North Dakota to Oklahoma; it is naturalized somewhat more narrowly. Shrubs may persist in cultivation and be found in abandoned yards and gardens. The plants are valued for drought and cold resistance and are planted both as an ornamental and for windbreaks. The shoots have been used for cordage; the leaves contain a blue pigment used as a dye; the seeds can be used as food for birds; and the nectar of the flowers provide food for bees (A. I. Pojarkova 1971b). There are named cultivars or varieties of Siberian pea tree, which often are based on growth form or leaflet size and shape.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaves even-pinnate, leaflets 6–12(or 14). | C. arborescens |
1. Leaves appearing palmate or subpinnate, leaflets 2–4. | → 2 |
2. Leaflet blades oblanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, mostly curved or sickle-shaped, 0.1–0.3(–0.4) cm wide. | C. aurantiaca |
2. Leaflet blades oblong-obovate to cuneate-obovate, not curved, 0.8–1.4 cm wide. | C. frutex |
WA
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USDA Plants Database
BC
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IL Wildflowers
MI Flora
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